================================================================= Going Up and Going Down(R2G Quiz 114)
In English, we have many words that mean ‘to go up’ and many words that mean ‘to go down’. We often use these words when talking about prices or the stock market.
Go up
Rise (rose/risen) Increase Climb Grow (grew/grown) Skyrocket (go up really high) Shoot up (go up really high)
Go down
Drop Fall (fell/fallen) Decrease Decline
Tumble (fall by a large amount) Plunge (fall by a large amount) Collapse (fall by a large amount)
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Gonna, Wanna and Hafta(R2G Quiz 115)
There are a few contracted forms of modals and other phrases that we use in slang or colloquial speech. That means you would not use these forms in formal situations. These forms are spoken but never written.
going to => gonna want to => wanna have to => hafta kind of => kinda (have) got to => gotta would have => woulda should have => shoulda
Here are some examples:
I’m gonna buy some supplies before I go fishing I wanna have another glass of wine I hafta go now; I’m late. What kinda car do you drive? We gotta get a new secretary It woulda been easier to take the bus I shoulda known it would work out this way
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GONE or BEEN(R2G Quiz 116)
Have you ever been to Egypt?
Why do we say ‘been’ instead of ‘gone’? The past participle of ‘go’ is considered to be either BEEN or GONE depending on the situation.
When we use GONE, it implies that the person has not come back:
Where is George? He has gone fishing.
BEEN implies that the person has returned:
George has gone to Egypt. (He is still there) George has been to Egypt. (He has returned)
* This rule is strictly applied in British English but less strictly applied in American English.
* GONE can also be used with the BE verb, to mean ‘missing’ or ‘finished’:
Where is my candy bar? It’s gone!
* Sometimes we use a short form with been:
Have you been to the new mall? => Been to the new mall?
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Group Words(R2G Quiz 117)
Here is a selection of words that we use to describe groups:
A group of soldiers may be a squad (small) or a regiment (large) A group of sports players is a team A company is controlled by a board of directors We can say a panel of speakers (at a conference) Members of a committee meet to discuss a special issue A group of fish is a school of fish! A group of criminals is a gang or a syndicate A group of people is a crowd A group of people at a show are the audience
In English, we can use either singular or plural verbs with group words:
The team is doing well The team are doing well
It depends whether you are referring to the team as an individual entity or as a collection of persons! Here is a list of words commonly used in this way: bank, family, party, mob, crowd, team, flock, herd, army, fleet, jury, nation, committee, government, firm, public, choir, school, class, jury, staff, club, ministry, union
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HAD BETTER(R2G Quiz 118)
HAD BETTER is used to give a warning or a strong piece of advice.
Some examples:
You had better stay away from that part of town at night. You had better be careful. There are lots of snakes around here.
The negative form:
You had better not challenge him to a fight.
In spoken English, we use the contracted form:
We’d better not wake him up.
People sometimes miss out the ‘had’, although technically this is incorrect:
We better not wake him up.
We often match HAD BETTER to OR ELSE:
You’d better not tease the dog or else he’ll bite you. You’d better be careful, or else!
English learners often confuse HAD BETTER with SHOULD or MUST. HAD BETTER is used to give a warning. MUST is used for a situation where you have no choice. SHOULD is the standard phrase used to give advice:
You’d better not go out without a raincoat. (warning)
You should try the cakes that Mary made. (advice)
You must fill in this form to apply for leave. (no choice)
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HAVE and HAVE GOT(R2G Quiz 119)
HAVE and HAVE GOT carry the same meaning. For example, these two sentences mean the same thing:
We have a new car. We have got a new car.
Even when we use the modal form, the meaning is the same:
You have to finish before ten. You have got to finish before ten.
Negative form:
She doesn’t have many friends. She hasn’t got many friends.
Question form:
Does she have many friends? Has she got many friends?
This is a common mistake made by English learners:
We have a new car. We have got a new car. We got a new car.
The third sentence is grammatically correct, but the meaning is not the same as the first two sentences. In this sentences, got means ‘bought’. So, while you could say that the meaning is similar, the sentence is in a different tense.
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HAVE, HAS or HAD(R2G Quizzes 120, 121, 122)
English learners can get confused as to when to use each of these three words. Let’s see how each one is used in various cases:
1 Present tense
In the present simple tense, we use have/has in this way:
I have a car You have a car We have a car They have a car
He has a car She has a car It has a car
*So we would say Bob has a car, because Bob = he
*With question forms and negatives, we use the root verb (have) and not has:
wrong: Does she has a car? right: Does she have a car?
wrong: She doesn’t has a car right: She doesn’t have a car
2 Past tense
In the simple past tense, we use had:
I had a car, but I sold it.
She had a great time at the party.
*With question forms and negatives, we use the root verb (have) and not had:
wrong: Did he had a car? right: Did he have a car?
wrong: She didn’t has a car right: She didn’t have a car
3 Perfect tenses
The Present Perfect tense has this form:
I have been here since June. She has been here since June.
The Past Perfect tense has this form:
I had been here since June. She had been here since June.
*The Present Perfect tense is very commonly used and we use the Past Perfect tense less often.
*The Present Perfect tense links a past event to the present:
I have lived here since June. (past action ongoing into the present) I have been to Korea three times. (the meaning is ‘so far’ or ‘until now’)
The Past Perfect tense has a specific function: it links a past event to an earlier past event:
When she arrived, the guests had already left. She was hungry because she had not eadten for many days.
*We tend to use Past Perfect with reported speech:
She said she had seen him.
*It is possible to have the patterns have had and had had:
I have had a tiring day! She had had a shower earlier in the day.
Don’t be confused! The first have/had is an auxiliary verb (to show the tense), and the second describes the action.
We also have Past Present Continuous tense:
She has been waiting.
…Past Perfect Continuous (another unusual tense):
She had been waiting.
…and Future Perfect patterns:
She will have finished by then. She will have been waiting for a few hours. |